An online journal of Mannie Gentile, a National Park Service Park Ranger working on the National Mall in our nation's capital.
DISCLAIMER: please note that this blog represents only my views and not those of the National Park Service.
Feel free to email me at: museumofamerica@myactv.net

Saturday, March 17, 2012

On Other Fronts...

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Historic Home Preservation

No, I'm not talking about the Joseph Poffenberger house.

A friend asked me to fabricate some missing pieces for her 1930s folk-art bungalow.

This looked like the perfect project to both kick off the shop season and to distract me from my homework; a win-win as they say.

Originally assembled with tiny brads, many of the components of this house were loose or missing entirely.

Using scrap wood, I first fabricated the missing railing and post.

Once assembled, as a component, it was glued and clamped into place.

This was followed by tackling the missing chimneys. By ripping a small piece of stock, I matched the dimensions of the chimneys based upon the pattern left in the paint by the originals. I cut the resulting pieces at a 20-degree angle to match the pitch of the roof (fine tuning done on my sanding wheel). Chimney caps, modeled off the one larger, original chimney, were cut and then beveled on my sanding wheel. Everything got glued and clamped into place.

Aside from these major components, two smaller issues were taken care of; the cutting and shaping of a missing piece of window frame,

and the replacement of a small piece of missing wood on the front wall.

Once primed and painted, this will be up to the standards of those cool kit homes sold by Sears in the1920s and 30s.

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I'm a Park Ranger on the National Mall in Washington DC. I'm very proud and fortunate to be working at such a significant place and to be sharing this magnificent resource with visitors from around the world.

About Mannie

I'm fortunate to have married the love of my life. In that, I am a very lucky fellow. Otherwise I live in Washington County in western Maryland in a little house on the shoulder of South Mountain.
Other stuff from me here: http://manniesartimitateslife.blogspot.com/